Our Upcoming Events

Adopt a Spot

Through theOakland Adopt a Spot program, individuals, neighborhood groups, civic organizations and businesses can play an active and ongoing role in cleaning, greening and beautifying parks, creeks, shorelines, storm drains, streets, trails, medians and other public spaces. Volunteers have adopted hundreds of sites around Oakland. Public Works supports these efforts with tool lending, debris collection services and technical assistance.

Activities can include:

Planting/pruning/weeding (with pre-approval from Public Works staff)

Beautification of litter containers and utility boxes with mosaics and murals

See what it's like to be a member of the Oakland Adopt a Spot program. Check out this video featuring a few of our adopters doing amazing work:

Interested in joining the hundreds of residents, businesses and community groups who are already participating? Please review the Adopt a Spot Application Packet for a detailed program description and application. You can also contact an Adopt a Spot coordinator at (510) 238-7630 or via adoptaspot@oaklandnet.com.

Report Volunteer Hours

Litter Container Mosaics

Oakland volunteers add beauty and character to the streets by adopting and adorning city-owned litter containers with tile mosaics and painted murals. See http://oaklandwiki.org/Mosaic_Tile_Trash_Cans for examples of some of these projects.

Other Volunteer Opportunities

One-Time Community CleanupsWe also support One-Time Community Cleanups. If you would like to host one, please complete the One-Time Community Cleanup Proposal form and send it to adoptaspot@oaklandnet.com. We may be able to provide you tools, post-event debris collection services and other logistical support.

Earth Day is typically held the third Saturday in April. Mark your calendar for Saturday,April 18, 2015!

Creek to Bay Day is held the third Saturday in September. Mark your calendar for Saturday,September 20, 2015!

Clean Lake InitiativeAre you passionate about Lake Merritt? Oakland's Clean Lake Initiativesupports volunteer cleanup, maintenance, monitoring and education at the Lake. For information on how you can participate in these efforts, please contact the Lake Merritt Institute at (510) 238-2290 or lmi@netwiz.net.

County, Regional & State PropertySome of Oakland's public spaces are owned and managed by other government entities. Please visit the following websites for volunteer opportunities offered by these organizations:

A Successful Creek to Bay Day! City of Oakland Public Works thanks all the volunteers, sponsors and partners who helped make Oakland’s 19th annual Creek to Bay Day a success! Approximately 1,000 Oakland volunteers removed over 500 bags of trash and over 150 cubic yards of invasive weeds from Oakland’s creeks and bay shoreline. Throughout California there were more than 850 cleanup projects and over 54,000 volunteers who removed 576,571 pounds of trash and 109,494 pounds of recyclables! Information about the day. Read more atwww.oaklandcreektobay.org.

Oakland Adopt a Spot Program receives the Northern California APWA 2013 Sustainability Practices AwardCongratulations to the Adopt a Spot Program for receiving the 2013 Sustainability Practices Award from the Northern California Chapter of the American Public Works Association! This award is given to "individuals, teams or organization that have made an outstanding contribution to promote sustainability in public works."

We thank the many individual volunteers, neighborhood groups, civic organizations and businesses who are cleaning, greening and beautifying adopted spots around Oakland (currently there are about 400). These efforts contribute to a cleaner, healthier, more beautiful, livable and sustainable City. Together, through Adopt a Spot, we're building community, raising environmental consciousness and participation, improving the quality of life in Oakland while also supporting broader regional and global environmental initiatives.

ADA Volunteer Policy

City of Oakland Public Works offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities. We encourage individuals with disabilities to volunteer their time and efforts. Some volunteer opportunities may be located in areas without a designed path of travel and may require significant physical labor. To discuss available volunteer opportunities, please contact the person listed as the main contact for the event or call (510) 238-3254 (TTY).